Minimum

Minimum is a 2014 third-person shooter whose benchmark results with the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 7700 reveal a pairing that scales predictably across resolutions and settings, landing in the 56th percentile of all tested combos in this game. The data shows a system capable of high refresh rates at 1080p, but one that begins to show clear GPU limitation as pixel count climbs to 4K. This analysis breaks down the measured frames, the role each component plays, and what the numbers imply for tuning the experience.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread desktop processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz, boosting up to 5.50 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The chip features a substantial cache hierarchy: 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3. Memory support is DDR5 over a dual-channel bus, providing 115.2 GB/s of bandwidth, and the CPU supports PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU posts strong numbers, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44253 and a single-core score of 2439. Its Passmark multi-thread score is 68574, and the single-thread score is 5068. The processor ranks in the 96th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 93785. Its nearest rivals in overall CPU benchmarks are the Intel Xeon 6520P (matching at 0% delta), the AMD EPYC 4564P (-1.5%), the AMD EPYC 9175F (-1.9%), and the AMD EPYC 4565P (-2.1%). This places the Ultra 7 270K Plus in elite company for compute workloads.

For a game like Minimum, which launched in 2014, the CPU's role is less about brute multi-core throughput and more about maintaining frame pacing and feeding the GPU. At 1080p, the measured FPS shows the CPU is not a bottleneck: the average of 214 FPS on Low settings indicates the processor can push frames far beyond typical display refresh rates. Even at Ultra settings at 1080p, the average of 105 FPS suggests headroom remains. The high single-core performance, indicated by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2439, is likely the key factor, as older game engines often rely heavily on a few threads. The 24 threads provide plenty of parallel capacity for background tasks, but the data does not suggest that this game's frame rates are limited by CPU throughput at any tested resolution. The shift in FPS from 1080p to 4K is far more pronounced, pointing to the GPU as the limiting component.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how different presets perform at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 214 FPS, Medium drops to 164 FPS, High to 137 FPS, and Ultra to 105 FPS. For competitive play or high refresh rate monitors, Low or Medium at 1080p is the clear choice, as even Medium maintains a 164 FPS average, which is well above the 144 Hz threshold. The medium preset also shows a minimum of 139 FPS, ensuring smooth frame delivery.

At 2560x1440, the story shifts. Low averages 138 FPS, which is still excellent for a 1440p panel. Medium averages 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 FPS, making it a solid balance for most users. High averages 89 FPS, and Ultra drops to 68 FPS. For a 60 Hz display, High at 1440p is perfectly playable, but for higher refresh rates, Medium is the sweet spot, offering a 38 FPS improvement over High while staying above the 100 FPS mark.

At 3840x2160, the data indicates that even Medium struggles to maintain 60 FPS, averaging 57 FPS with a minimum of 48 FPS. Low is the only preset that breaks the 60 FPS barrier, averaging 74 FPS. High averages 48 FPS, and Ultra falls to 36 FPS. For 4K gaming, the recommendation is to use Low for a fluid experience or accept Medium if visual fidelity is prioritized over frame rate. The measured rows show that the step from Low to Medium at 4K costs 17 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 9 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 12 FPS. The performance curve suggests diminishing returns for Ultra settings at this resolution.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve 144 FPS or higher?

A: At 1920x1080, both Low (214 FPS) and Medium (164 FPS) presets exceed 144 FPS on average. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset (138 FPS) comes close but does not reach the 144 FPS mark. For a consistent 144 FPS experience, 1080p with Medium settings or lower is required.

Q: How does the Ultra preset at 4K compare to the Low preset at 1080p?

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 36 FPS, while the Low preset at 1920x1080 averages 214 FPS. This represents a 178 FPS difference, highlighting the massive performance cost of both higher resolution and higher settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck. From 1080p to 4K, the average FPS drops by roughly 65% at Low settings (from 214 to 74 FPS), which is a typical GPU-bound scaling pattern. The CPU remains capable of high frame rates, as evidenced by the 214 FPS result at 1080p Low.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations in Minimum?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination is ranked 1298 out of 2939 tested combos, placing it in the 56th percentile of all configurations for this game.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for this game?

A: The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. Given that this game is from 2014, the memory capacity and bandwidth are more than sufficient for any of the tested settings or resolutions.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium averages 106 FPS, while High averages 89 FPS. The difference is 17 FPS, with Medium also showing a minimum of 90 FPS compared to High's unspecified minimum.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 achieves a rank of 1298 out of 2939 total tested combos in Minimum. This places it at the 56th percentile, meaning it outperforms a slight majority of other configurations but is not near the top of the chart. The rank reflects the balance between a high-end CPU and a mid-range GPU; the processor is a top-tier performer, but the GPU's percentile against all GPUs is only 58th, which drags the overall combo ranking down.

To contextualize, the CPU alone ranks in the 96th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU sits in the 58th percentile against all GPUs. The combo rank of 1298 suggests that for this specific game, the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU's high percentile does not translate into a top-100 combo ranking. The nearest GPU rivals in benchmark scores are the AMD Radeon R9 370X (-0.1% delta), AMD Radeon RX 9060 (-1%), AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (+1.1%), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (-1.7%). This indicates the RX 7700 is competitive with a wider range of GPUs, but its performance ceiling in Minimum is what determines the combo's rank. The data implies that pairing this CPU with a stronger GPU would yield a significantly better combo rank, as the CPU has headroom to spare.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 1900 MHz, a boost clock of 2459 MHz, and a game clock of 2041 MHz. The memory runs at 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, yielding 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, along with 40 ray tracing cores. Its compute power is rated at 25.18 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16.

In synthetic benchmarks, the GPU scores 20974 in Passmark G3D and 106028 in Geekbench OpenCL. Its Passmark DirectX 11 score is 186, and the DirectX 12 score is 96. The GPU ranks in the 58th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15852. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon R9 370X (0% delta), AMD Radeon RX 9060 (-1%), AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (+1.1%), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (-1.7%). This places the RX 7700 in the mid-range tier of graphics cards.

In Minimum, the GPU's role is clearly dominant, as evidenced by the FPS scaling. At 1080p Low, the GPU produces 214 FPS, but this drops to 74 FPS at 4K Low, a 65% reduction. This is a classic GPU-bound behavior where pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor. The 16 GB of VRAM is ample for any settings in this game, as Minimum's textures are unlikely to exceed even 8 GB. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s also ensures that data transfer is not a bottleneck at 4K, as the FPS drop is more attributable to the shading and ROP throughput limits. The data shows that the RX 7700 is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming in this title, but 4K demands significant settings reductions.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

1920x1080:

• Low: Average 214 FPS
• Medium: Average 164 FPS, Minimum 139 FPS, Maximum 188 FPS
• High: Average 137 FPS
• Ultra: Average 105 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: Average 138 FPS
• Medium: Average 106 FPS, Minimum 90 FPS, Maximum 121 FPS
• High: Average 89 FPS
• Ultra: Average 68 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: Average 74 FPS
• Medium: Average 57 FPS, Minimum 48 FPS, Maximum 65 FPS
• High: Average 48 FPS
• Ultra: Average 36 FPS

The data shows a consistent pattern: at 1080p, all presets are playable, with even Ultra averaging 105 FPS. At 1440p, the Low and Medium presets are smooth, while High and Ultra require a 60 Hz monitor to feel fluid. At 4K, only Low crosses the 60 FPS threshold, and Medium barely misses it with a 57 FPS average. The minimum FPS values are only recorded for the Medium preset, showing a 139 FPS floor at 1080p, 90 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K. This suggests that Medium is the most stable preset in terms of frame pacing, as the other presets do not report minimums. The maximum FPS for Medium scales from 188 at 1080p to 121 at 1440p and 65 at 4K, indicating a smooth degradation curve.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals a steep performance decline across all settings. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 214 at 1080p to 138 at 1440p (a 35.5% reduction) and then to 74 at 4K (a 46.4% reduction from 1440p). At Medium settings, the drop is from 164 to 106 (35.4%) and then to 57 (46.2%). High settings see 137 to 89 (35.0%) and then to 48 (46.1%), while Ultra goes from 105 to 68 (35.2%) and then to 36 (47.1%). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings is striking, indicating that the performance scaling is resolution-driven rather than setting-driven.

This pattern is a textbook sign of a GPU-limited system. The number of pixels at 4K is four times that of 1080p, but the FPS does not drop by 75%; it drops by roughly 65% from 1080p to 4K. This non-linear relationship suggests that memory bandwidth and cache efficiency help mitigate the pixel count increase, but the shading and ROP units are still overwhelmed. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS across resolutions at the same settings, as the CPU workload is largely resolution-independent. The data contradicts that, with a clear FPS decline as resolution increases. Therefore, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the limiting component in this pairing for Minimum, and users seeking higher frame rates at 4K would need to either lower settings to Low or consider a more powerful GPU. The CPU's high single-core performance ensures it can keep up with the GPU's output, but it is the GPU that ultimately dictates the frame rate ceiling.